Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday reiterated his call for citizens to avoid unnecessary travel and support the government’s austerity drive amidst an ongoing fuel supply crisis triggered by joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said the premier had chaired a review meeting on fuel conservation amid the evolving regional situation, examining the implementation of measures aimed at fuel savings and austerity. It said Sharif had maintained the country had sufficient petroleum stocks due to timely government decisions, stressing public relief was the government’s foremost priority.
The prime minister emphasized the government had extended maximum possible relief to citizens over the past three weeks to cushion the impact of rising global oil prices, noting Rs. 125 billion had been allocated through savings and development budget cuts to offset hikes in petroleum prices. He urged the public to support the government’s conservation campaign by avoiding unnecessary travel and prioritizing teleconferencing at offices and workplaces.
Sharif also directed provincial governments to facilitate the vehicle registrations of motorcycle and rickshaw owners to help digitize data and enable owners to benefit from future, targeted relief measures. In this regard, he instructed authorities to enhance coordination with chief secretaries of all four provinces, as well as Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
During the meeting, read the statement, the prime minister was briefed on the impact of austerity measures, with officials informing participants petroleum supply and demand, along with the entire supply chain, were being regularly monitored through a digital dashboard. He was further informed of arrangements for April’s fuel imports.
Officials noted that Pakistan had thus far avoided long queues or mismanagement in fuel supply, attributing this to effective government planning and timely actions.
The meeting was also briefed on a digital application for the proposed fuel support program aimed at motorcycle riders and rickshaw drivers.
After spiking both petrol and diesel prices by Rs. 55/liter at the outset of the war, Pakistan has resisted any further increases to ex-depot prices, covering the differential through subsidies.